AT&T has a business to run and if they can get a few more dollars per user, or keep a little extra traffic off their much-maligned network, could that be win/win for them? Do you believe in paying per service so you get the best service?

How about if AT&T makes FaceTime 'Net-non-neutral and, if you pay, guarantees your packets get served first and you get the best, most crystal clear video possible?Or if paying more meant an extra 1GB or so of FaceTime data? Would that make a difference to your decision?

Or do you firmly believe that you already pay AT&T, and pay them well, for your data and you should darn well be able to do what you please with it? Especially if your capped already, and paying extra already for tethering, should AT&T be allowed to triple dip in your data pool?

As always, vote in our poll up top and then give me the details in the comments below. iMore nation, how do you feel about the idea of paying extra for your cellular FaceTime?

Reader comments

Poll: Would you pay extra for FaceTime over cellular?

This shouldn't be happening. Unless I don't understand it right, data is data, so if we are paying for it how can we get charged again? If you use your allotted data, then charges or a slow down should apply. I'm on Verizon so it wouldn't surprise me to see them do something like this. I'm doing all I can to keep my "unlimited" data plan there and may even resort to never buying a subsidized phone again and just save my pennies and purchase it full price. As of now, this is the only way I can keep it. Anyways, for you AT&T subscribers, I feel for you and I hope this won't really happen or if it did, they back off due to public outrage(and the legality of it?)

I already use FaceTime over "4G" with unlimited data. I read that they were going to allow FT over 3G last year, and got PO'd when they didn't, so decided not to wait anymore. Just jailbreak and get 3G Unrestrictor. I just don't have hardly anyone with FT enabled to call. Quality in San Francisco is usually OK, although sometimes both video and voice degrade, and of course I have to deal with throttling. It seems to work better if I start with voice then start FaceTime, although I have not had the opportunity to test it thoroughly.

It's not at all surprising, but it is still despicable. Data is data is data. Most of us have data limits, so how we use our allotted data should be up to us without this kind of nonsense. I think tethering charges are horseshit as well.

I wish Apple would spend some of those billions on getting their own network. I know there are good arguments against it, but I can still dream! Given the nearly ubiquitous hatred of the telco companies and their shenanigans, I imagine it would be successfull, but I also realize it would be a huge gamble.

Nope. I can do it with a jailbreak tweak called my 3G. I see no reason to pay more for something that will use data, which I already pay for. It's like having to pay extra for MMS when AT&T finally got that.

AT&T wants you off your unlimited plans. Likely, they're going to be the Blue Monkey following the Red Monkey Verizon and allow you to use FaceTime over Cellular ONLY while on shared data when they unveil those plans. There's going to be a jailbreak around it, of course, but that's beside the point.

AT&T Hat Salesman: Oh, you can't let anyone else wear it....just you. Unless you buy our "Family Use" hat. It looks exactly that the 2 hour and 10 hour hat, but costs more. Also, you can't wear any of our hats out of the country. But we will let you wear it to parties....if you purchase our "Party Hat Plan". See, here at AT&T we want you to have the best deal possible. As long as we have full control over how, when and where you use the hat and our pricing structure is abstruse enough that you can't figure out which shell the pea is under.

Customer: Do you have a plan where I could buy a hat and just use as I want without all the red tape and extra charges?

AT&T Hat Salesman: (laughing) No. That wouldn't be fair to other hat owners. You may wear your hat too much or wear it with suits that we don't allow. We don't invest much in the quality of the hats we sell so we have to limit your usage in order to make more profits and not have to build better hats.

Customer: Maybe I'll just try another hat store.

AT&T Hat Salesman: Good luck with that. We all have the same business model, almost zero competition and full government support for continuing our current practices. We're a corporation: we don't have to care or be moral or ethical....we just need to make profits and use our market position and capital to retain our advantage and influence laws to best suit our tax needs. We really don't care about hats; it just happens to be the thing we sell. Hell, one day we may even sell wireless phones or internet access. Now there's a business we could really make some money at.

Buy my data. But if you want to use that data you just bought you have to pay extra for voice, You have to pay extra for text messages, You have to pay extra for hotspots, You have to pay extra for Facetime. Coming soon, You will have to pay extra for Netflix, You will have to pay extra for Skype, You will have to pay extra for Emails, You will have to pay extra for Web surfing. But if you can come up with anything else to use your data for then you can use if for no extra charge until we figure out what you are using it for and can add an extra charge for that as well. Oh, and if you don't use your data you loose it, no carry forward of unused data. Thank you for your business.

AT&T, like all other cell carriers, is milking us for every penny they can get. It's as if they're trying to save up for an internet-telephony future, when they just might devolve into generic commodity providers, like ISPs are now. The oil companies (another oligopoly) are doing the same thing. Milking us for record profits to prepare for an alternative-energy future.

REALLY? The way we use or data should be just that! If this happens this is bull! I'd gladly switch to Verizon if this goes thru. I got my 4S off craigslist so I didn't renew my AT&T contract. I My contract is up in Aug.

Would I pay extra for FaceTime over 3G? Hells no.
How do I feel about it? HateT&T can shovel it.

Jailbreak + 3G Unrestrictor = moot point

Even though I'm capable of FT/3G right now, this is just one more straw on the back of the camel dealing with this company. It's just about time to walk, as far as my being their customer is concerned.